with 1 week to go- sleep ran away

[Beha]

I will be having a PV replacement and R Coronary artery bypass oh the 20th.

Thus far am doing pretty well at managing my axiety during the day with meditation, calming tasks like coloring, and yoga (which open a whole other can of worms about what yoga poses and can and cant do anymore-for another time).

But once I get in bed and the lights are off and I am all alone the anxiety seems in and starts building nests.

Ive tried meditating, ive tried tea, ive tried music, ive tried NOT listening to music....ive tried standing on my head.

I eventually broke down and started stating the ambien my doc prescribed me ...only, it doesnt work so well, Last night i took it around 11 and tried and tried and tried to sleep but was still up at 4 and then slept from 4-8...that was the best nights sleep i got on the stuff. Thats just not normal right? I mean its a SLEEEPING PILL- PUT ME TO SLEEP!!

my cat got so annoyed with my flipityflopping around that he abandoned me and slept downstairs

sorry i just needed to vent.

I think I would feel better if I had some people my own ago i could talk to and chill with but all my friends are far away in texas and D.C. area and im here with my parents and all their friends and its just lame.

thank jeebus for the internet.

 

[Duff Man]

If you were taking a benzo (anxiolytic such as xanax, ativan, valium, klonopin, etc) pre-op or in the hospital, you probably built up a dependence to it. Ambien has similar pharmacological properties to benzos, so in that scenario it would be no surprise that it became less effective.

 

[zipper2]

I will be having a PV replacement and R Coronary artery bypass oh the 20th.

Thus far am doing pretty well at managing my axiety during the day with meditation, calming tasks like coloring, and yoga (which open a whole other can of worms about what yoga poses and can and cant do anymore-for another time).

But once I get in bed and the lights are off and I am all alone the anxiety seems in and starts building nests.

Ive tried meditating, ive tried tea, ive tried music, ive tried NOT listening to music....ive tried standing on my head.

I eventually broke down and started stating the ambien my doc prescribed me ...only, it doesnt work so well, Last night i took it around 11 and tried and tried and tried to sleep but was still up at 4 and then slept from 4-8...that was the best nights sleep i got on the stuff. Thats just not normal right? I mean its a SLEEEPING PILL- PUT ME TO SLEEP!!

my cat got so annoyed with my flipityflopping around that he abandoned me and slept downstairs

sorry i just needed to vent.

I think I would feel better if I had some people my own ago i could talk to and chill with but all my friends are far away in texas and D.C. area and im here with my parents and all their friends and its just lame.

thank jeebus for the internet.

This waitings the worst on anyone and i can relate.
What strenght are you on and if weak strenght you may have to see your
doc to up it safely for you.Are you maybe subconciously fighting sleep
and it won't work for you, i've heard of that too.

Beha it's going to go fine it's just the wait and our mind starts working
overtime and it drives us crazy as sleep is non-existant.Yes thank jeebus
for the internet and you can e-mail me pm if you need to,my sleep is non exsistant also ,so if it gets so bad don't be afraid to pm me.
It is terrible the wait and soon it will go good and you will be wondering why you lost sleep over it,me too.But its this wait that eats at our minds.

Vent often,don't think they mind the vents and someones always up on VR
take my innvitation if you need to,don't be shy or feel your bothering me
no such thing...This is a hard time before surgery for anyone and i'm in
close running with you and i'm having quite a time to sleep too.

Hoping a better night for you.

zipper2 (DEB)

 

[ALCapshaw2]

It sounds like you need to talk with your Primary Care Physician again. Let him know exactly what is going on and that the dose of ambien isn't working.

Are you getting any exercise (i.e. walking, etc.) to help burn off some of that energy?

The only other thing that I can think of is an anti-anxiety drug or a higher dose of sleeping drug. Both need to be monitored carefully to avoid developing a dependence.

Hopefully you will reach a state of "peaceful acceptance" and that will allow you to relax enough to sleep comfortably.

Best Wishes,

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Jkm7]

I agree you should call your Primary Card Physician and tell them what is happening. They can try a different drug or change the dose perhaps. No reason to suffer needlessly if help is available.

The wait is very, very difficult and we all suffer it in our own way.
You are probably right that the best dose for you would be other people your age who have been through it. They could assure you the way we try that you CAN do this and there is every reason to believe you will come through this fine. Because of your young age, the odds are good you will handle recovery smoothly. Us older folks sometimes take a bit longer to recover but almost all of us do so fine so it's all on your young side for a bump free recovery.

The wait really is the worst part of this whole stressful experience.

Call your doc and ask for more help.

 

[Beha]

Thanks guys...i know its going to be ok, just have to remember to keep breathing.

Duffman- I haven't taken any benzos since I had back surgery in 2001 and I have taken ambien maybe 3 times in the last 6 months (when it was first prescribed) so I don't think dependence or tolerance is the issue.

I have always had sleeping problems but have been able to deal with it via yoga, meditation, etc. i think part of the problem is that I have had to seriously curtail my yoga routine due to dizziness, palpitations, etc during a lot of the poses.

o well. it will all be over soon enough.

 

[danb1983]

Hey Beha,

Sleeping is probably a big problem for everyone beforehand - it certainly was for me, but i think i only had 2-3 nights in between finding out and going to hospital - I don't think theres that much you can do - it is worrying - but its normal....

The nurses told me sleeping tablets wouldn't help me so theres no point - said they only help relax you physically or something - i.e. NOT slow down your train of thought - which was my problem...

... something I tried to do which I learn from tai chi was getting into a comfortable sitting position (sitting up in bed) and leading / imagining the energy and thoughts moving from my head, down through my body and into my belly over and over then lying back down again - this usually works for me during normal "now and again" sleeping troubles - but the nights before my operation it didn't work to well - I don't think anything does

Glad you've got the date and soon this will be a tiny bad memory - not even that, but this is as bad as it gets - the waiting is worse!

 

[Nupur]

You have a whole VR community to keep you company Beha. I am told there are some night owls here, so you can post and chat if you can't sleep, don't know if that'll help. We are not all exactly your age, some of us just a little older ; )

Seriously though, I can imagine how hard the days leading to surgery can be, I am probably going to be on serious valium the whole time. All the best to you!
Nupur

 

[halleyg]

My brother had MV repair surgery two years before mine.. I remember he couldn't sleep so he started taking Benadryl at night. He is actually a surgeon himself, as is his wife. I had sleeping problems a while back and one of my dr.'s recommended Benadryl temporarily intead of getting me on a prescription drug. I did take Ativan at night before both of my OHS's, I was a nervous wreck. I do yoga, relaxation techniques, too, but sometimes anxiety this big is hard to fight, at least long enough for a good night's sleep. I think I did the Benadryl thing during this time as well if needed. I am not big on meds but sometimes they are very helpful (and of course ones like coumadin I can't live w/out). Good luck.

 

[ponygirlmom]

Ive tried meditating....

Have you been practicing any meditation exercises designed to help you dismiss bothersome thoughts?

As Dan B. said in an earlier reply, your worries will keep you awake no matter how tired you are.

Medications can reduce irrational worries, but yours are not irrational. I don't think meds will be helpful. Fortunately, you CAN control them yourself.

I think I would feel better if I had some people my own ago i could talk to and chill with but all my friends are far away in texas and D.C. area

Are you friend on Facebook?

"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles;
it empties today of its strengths."

 

[hall]

The waiting has to be a nightmare. I use ambien and if I am really stressed I will not sleep. They say, if you are not asleep after 20 minutes to get up. That is what I do. I find a very boring game of solitare on the computer and pretty soon, I can sleep. Hope you find something that works.

 

[Herburban1]

I have no trouble getting to sleep. It's waking at 4 am and not being able to go back to sleep that gets me. Like you I just want the whole freakin thing to be over.

 

[Eva]

From my experience with ambien is that you need to go to bed after you take it...do not hang around the house doing other things as you might stay awake, especially if it is a low dose. You may need a higher dose...I used to take 5 mg to give full 8 hours sleep.

As for dependence, I won't worry about it as long as you shall take it only for a certain period of time. You need to sleep and rest well...I took ambien from the moment I knew about my surgery (March 08) until two weeks ago. I tried in between to stop, I could not as I was not ready yet mentally or emotionally as now. So, in brief, luckily I did not develop any dependency.